QUESTIONS ANSWERED: The Dish on Fish

To some scientists and doctors, fish is a miracle food, a treasure trove of heart-healthy fatty acids and disease-fighting vitamins. To others, it’s a culinary curse, the carrier of health-endangering toxins.

Which is it? The confusion is enough to make you go off the deep end.

Some things are clear. There’s little doubt, for example, that certain types—particularly cold-water fish such as salmon, herring, anchovies and Atlantic mackerel—rank as the top food source of omega-3 fatty acids, the fats believed to protect the heart, brain and other organs. Most seafood is also rich in other key nutrients and low in “bad” fats and calories.

On the flip side, headlines continue to warn that fish contains mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins that have polluted some lakes, seas and rivers and are linked to a greater risk of liver disease, neurological problems and possibly cancer.

So, will eating seafood bolster your health or hurt it?

If you’re 50 or older, dive in, say experts: The benefits—and there are many, among them a lower risk of dementia, vision loss and dying from heart disease—far outweigh the risks.

“There is plenty of nutrition in fish, but most of the evidence points to omega-3s as the big-ticket benefit,” says Harvard Medical School cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., who as the author of several major medical studies may be the nation’s most prolific researcher on the health impact of seafood.

There are several types of omega-3s, some found in nuts and vegetable oils. But fish provides the highest amounts of two important types known as fish oil. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which is abundant in breast milk, accumulates in the brain, heart, eyes and other membranes to protect those organs. EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) primarily helps keep immunity strong and is believed to fight inflammation. Together, as they are in most seafood, they provide a one-two punch against many age-related and other conditions—particularly heart disease. Most health benefits come from the equivalent of 250 to 500 milligrams a day of DHA and EPA—what’s found (and stored in the body) in about two servings of fatty fish a week.

“DHA and EPA are known as ‘essential fatty acids,’ meaning you have to eat them to get them. But as you age, the body doesn’t absorb and convert them as well,” says Ernst Schaefer, M.D., senior scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and a professor of medicine and nutrition at Tufts University School of Medicine. “This makes for a stronger argument to eat more fish as you get older.”

Although omega-3 fish oils get most of the health-boosting kudos, they’re not the only reason why seafood rates high on the good-for-your-health list.

“Fish is a terrific source of protein and helps control blood sugar levels,” says nutritionist Joy Bauer, who regularly appears on the Today show and is author of the New York Times bestseller Food Cures. Fatty fish like salmon and sardines are also loaded with vitamin D, she says, with as much as 400 international units per serving, compared with just 100 IUs in a cup of milk. Bauer adds that certain types of fish—including tuna, halibut and salmon—contain selenium, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of some cancers and is believed to neutralize the damage caused by mercury.

So why the concern that seafood may not be safe to eat?

Good question—if you’re a man or postmenopausal woman.

“You shouldn’t not eat fish because you are worried about contaminants,” says Mozaffarian. “The levels of PCBs and dioxins in fish are very low, and similar to those in everything else we eat. In fact, less than 10 percent of the PCBs and dioxins in the American food supply come from fish; 90 percent come from vegetables, meat and dairy.”

Farmed vs Wild

You Are What They Eat

What do salmon eat?For survival and growth, both farmed and wild-caught salmon need a well-balanced diet ofprotein, vitamins, minerals, and pigments. In the wild, salmon eat zooplankton and fish. About10 pounds of prey is needed to make one pound of wild-caught salmon. This means wild salmonhave a food conversion rate (FCR) usually around 10:1.Commercial Salmon FactsAtlantic salmon, Salmo salar, are more closely related to brown trout than to the Pacificsalmon of the genus Onchorhynchus. Atlantic salmon have been domesticated and selectivelybred for many generations. They are the primary species used in fish farming. They aregrown in net pens in coastal waters and are typically harvested at a weight of 8 to 10 poundsand a length averaging 28 to 30 inches. Greatly reduced populations of wild Atlantic salmonstill spawn in rivers on both sides of the Atlantic. Historically of great commercialimportance, today less than 1% of commercially available Atlantic salmon are from the wild.Chinook salmon, Onchorhynchus tshawytscha, also known as king salmon, live from SanDiego to Japan with successful new populations in the Great Lakes and New Zealand.Chinook is the largest of the Pacific salmon species weighing on average 20 pounds andranging from 30 to 40 inches in length. Small quantities of farmed Chinook salmon can befound in the marketplace.Sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, also known as red salmon, is an important commercialspecies in British Columbia and Alaska. Its bright red flesh is prized for canning and for freshand frozen products. It is the second most abundant Pacific salmon species. The averageweight of fish in the market is approximately 6 pounds and reaches up to 34 inches in length.Landlocked sockeyes are called kokanee and are popular with recreational fishers.Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, also known as silver salmon, live from northern BajaCalifornia to Korea. The average weight is 10 pounds and they range from 25 to 35 inches inlength. Small quantities of coho salmon are also farmed and can occasionally be found in themarketplace.Pink salmon, Onchorhynchus gorbuscha are also known as humpback salmon because oftheir large hump when releasing eggs. Pinks are the smallest but most abundant Pacificsalmon, generally weighing 2 to 3 pounds with a length up to 30 inches. They live from PugetSound to Russia. Most pinks are canned and tend to cost less than other types of salmon.Chum salmon, Onchorhyncus keta, are also known as silver-bright, keta, or dog salmon.Chum is the second most abundant Pacific salmon. The average weight is 8 pounds and theycan grow to 27 inches long. They are relatively easy to farm, and large hatchery programs inJapan and southeast Alaska complement wild populations. Chum are harvested commerciallyin large numbers when they return to their release site. Like the pink salmon, chums tend tocost less than other types of salmon. They are sold canned, smoked, and as fresh, and frozen.3Farmed salmon need the same well-balanced diet to live and grow. They are fed a combinationof fish meal, fish oil, and other land-based protein sources. The FCR is usually around 1:1, soabout one pound of feed is needed to make one pound of farmed salmon. However, it should benoted that the water content in prey is much higher than in feed.Some nutrients in prey and feed are considered essential because the fish is unable to make themand they must come from the diet. One such nutrient is the orange pigment called astaxanthin,which is in the same family of nutrients as vitamin A. It is a powerful antioxidant that is thoughtto be involved in ovarian development, hatching, survival, growth, and respiration of salmon.Astaxanthin is also what causes the reddish-orange color of salmon flesh. The color of wildcaughtand farmed salmon can vary widely from red to orange-red, rose, pink and even white.The color depends mostly on the amount of astaxanthin in what salmon eat. Wild-caught salmonget natural astaxanthin from the prey they eat. Farmed salmon get natural or added astaxanthinfrom the feed they eat.

Antibiotics and HormonesIn the U.S., the FDA regulates antibiotics which are used to treat ill farm-raised animals includingfish, swine, cattle, and chickens (except in certified organic animal culture). Veterinariansoversee the way antibiotics are used when they are needed. Farmers must follow U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FDA regulations that monitor use andenvironmental impacts. These regulations also make sure antibiotics are used for the shortesttime possible so residual traces do not go above the FDA level of concern. I searched long and hard and found some good news..Supposedly there are no hormones used in salmon farming or added to salmon diets. So hormones are not a huge concern when choosing your salmon.

Elise has been living a sugar-free natural lifestyle since 2008, after discovering her PCOS, infertility, and inability to lose weight were caused by toxicity in her food and daily life. She became a certified nutrition and body detox coach, and provides consultations to clients across the world. By living the principles she teaches, Elise proudly welcomed her son, Austin, into the world in 2011. She and her husband, Dr. Dave, own and operate a natural health clinic, Triad Health Center, in Greensboro, NC.

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I can't even BEGIN to say thank you for your blog! My husband and I tried the Advanced Plan two years ago, and we only lasted three weeks because I was so stuck on what to make and how to actually LIVE the healing lifestyle. We began anew about six weeks ago and two days in I found your blog. You single handedly changed our lives! You have opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities and given us the ability to make this a true lifestyle change! ... - Jessica S., Windsor, Ontario, Canada

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Elise, I love you! I am making a b-day dinner for my baby, Ryan, who will be 2 tomorrow!! I am making everything from the drinks to the cupcakes and coconut milk ice cream. Thank you for all that you do. I am using all of your recipes to complete my mission! - Karla R., Chippewa Falls, WI

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